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NextGen NYS Geospatial: Expanding the Profession

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Based on the support of many long standing contributors, vendors, and returning individuals, the NYGeoCon 2013 meeting in Saratoga Springs, November 12-13, was considered a success.  Looking forward to future conferences and similar outreach efforts within the state, many could argue there is much optimism within the professional geospatial community – particularly with the NYS GIS Association at the helm – for continued growth and presence of the GIS profession across the Empire State.   However, unless new members are recruited from professions which are currently not part of the “staple” of the Association membership (government/public agencies, software companies, photogrammetry, academia, and civil engineering disciplines), such optimism may be tempered based a combination of recent industry and business reports, metrics, and employment trends.   Consider the following:

Government Job Growth Weakest:  A December 2013 Governing Magazine article notes that while private employment may finally be ready to accelerate, “state and local government job growth continues to be among the weakest of any industry”.  Translation:   Much of the future geospatial development – most likely at all levels of government in the Empire State – will increasingly be vendor/contractor based. While it is anticipated that existing government GIS programs in the Empire State will find a means to continue on some level, current government budgets and tax cap spending limits, suggest that new or expanding government geospatial programs will occur at a decreasing rate.    And few in government administrative or management level GIS positions across the state would probably be unable to argue otherwise. 

Minimal Technology Sector Growth:    A recent Praxis Strategy Group market report entitled “The Surprising Cities Creating the Most Tech Jobs” offers current statistics on employment trends in industries normally associated with technology, such as software, engineering and computer programming services. The article also presents numbers of workers in other industries which are classified as being in STEM occupations (science, technology, engineering and mathematics-related jobs).   Though the study considers only MetroNYC – and not the entire state – the findings are still somewhat troubling as the NYC ranked 36th on the national scale – only slightly ahead of metro Buffalo (43rd) and Rochester (45th).  Since 2001, New York City’s tech industry growth has been a paltry 6% while the number of STEM related jobs has fallen 4%.  The chances of New York City – or others parts of the state for that matter – of becoming a major tech center are handicapped not only by high costs and taxes, but a distinct lack of engineering talent. On a per capita basis, the New York area ranks 78th out of the nation’s 85 largest metro areas, with a miniscule 6.1 engineers per 1,000 workers, one seventh the concentration in California’s Silicon Valley. (Buffalo and Rochester statistics in this regard may be better though were not available as part of the article).

Shared Services Still Struggles:  For a technology which presents incredible opportunities for public organizations to share computing infrastructure, replicate (or share) identical mapping applications, cost-share on similar geospatial data development projects, or jointly exploit new Cloud-based programs – Information Technology (IT) shared services – and by extension GIS – have yet to be broadly implemented across the Empire State.  An August 2013 report prepared by the Cornell University found that while Shared Services programs in areas such as transportation, public safety, and recreation/social services continue to show promise, only eight-percent (8%) of the nearly 946 New York State government agencies surveyed in the study were engaged in Shared Services IT projects.

Growth Outside the GIS Mainstream:  An illustrative series of 2013 global market study reports by TechNavio forecasts steady GIS growth in disciplines which currently do not have a significant presence in many statewide conferences and programs or the NYS GIS Association.  Largely outside of government, and certainly not normally considered “tech jobs”,  these key industries  include banking and financial services, real estate, retail,  telecommunications, and utilities – all of which have significant corporate presence in the Empire State.  Many of these same industries were also identified as “GIS growth sectors” – including banking, insurance, law enforcement, business, healthcare, and finance – as part of a Geospatial Job Market panel discussion at the 2012 Association of American Geographers annual meeting.

Long term sustainability of the GIS profession in the Empire State requires the continued expansion and recruitment of industries which to date, have not had a strong visible presence in statewide GIS programs and activities.    Such opportunities exist by engaging these disciplines –  health care, retail, real estate, insurance and banking, and telecommunications, to name a few –  in local and regional GIS events,  NYS GIS Association professional development programs, or conversely, by attending and participating in industry trade shows and annual conferences held here in New York State (i.e., National Retail Federation,  NYC Real Estate Expo,  Annual NYS Commercial Real Estate Conference, NYS Association of Health Care Providers, and NY Bankers Association as well as many others).

Long term growth and influence of the NYS Geospatial profession should be considered extremely promising though will need to be based on a broader mix of disciplines and practitioners.

Reflections on NYGeoCon 2013

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The 2013 New York State GIS conference was held November 12-13, 2013 in Saratoga Springs, New York.  Organized by the NYS GIS Association, this is the first year the state conference has been rebranded as NYGeoCon which will be held alternating years with the Geospatial Summit.  With conference registration topping 300, including students, single day attendees, and vendors, the two-day event included a wide range of topics including nearly 30 individual presentations and a dozen workshops/panel discussions.    Among the many topics offered –  mobile technology, shared services, and open data themes – were common conversation points throughout the conference.  The conference also included special efforts to involve college students and contained an Education Tract highlighting statewide higher education GIS instructors.  Conference vendor support was equally impressive with 19 companies exhibiting during the course of the conference.

Beyond the normal opening day conference welcome by out-going NYS GIS Association President Al Leidner and the usual “State of the State” presentation by NYS GIO Bill Johnson, the conference began in earnest with an impressive keynote presentation by Jack Levis who is known to many as “the United Parcel Service (UPS) guy” in the Penn State Public Broadcasting production The Geospatial Revolution.  Levis has keynoted at other GIS/location-based conferences over the past several months presenting the company business message about how UPS used to be a trucking company that used technology, but is now a technology company that happens to use trucks.  His presentation focused on how UPS uses data (much of which is mobile gathered) to support enterprise descriptive, diagnostic, predictive, and prescriptive analytics in helping build and refine the UPS delivery model.  Interestingly, Levis feels, in general, much of the available digital street center line files (public/commercial) still need updating and improvement.  It was an excellent presentation which had a major underlying geospatial component.  Levis fielded several questions from the audience after the presentation.  Both the conference welcome and Levis presentation are available for viewing on the conference homepage.

The annual business meeting of the NYS GIS Association, which was held at lunch on the second day of the conference, demonstrated the tremendous growth of the Association as an independent, professional voice and presence in statewide geospatial programs.  The nearly hour-long meeting included several committee reports (Membership, Communications, Conference, Legislative, Private Sector, Education, Regional Groups, and Professional Development) as well as general discussion on issues such as GISP certification, types of membership (professional/associate, etc.) and collective efforts for continued growth and influence across the state.  One of the more impressive statistics taken from the meeting was that nearly one-third of the nearly 500 members of the Association are from the private sector.  A very encouraging number which suggests, for now, that New York State geospatial business and industry representatives are  supporting the underlying efforts and long-term goals of the Association.  The business meeting also included the introduction of incoming President Julie Tolar (Rochester-Genesee Regional Transportation Authority) and President-Elect Susan Nixson (City of Ithaca), as well as three new Board members:  Rich Quodomine (NYS DOT), Julia O’Brien (FEMA Region 2) and Mickey Dietrich (Tug Hill Commission).

Looking forward, the Association will hopefully continue to align its professional and conference efforts with like-minded statewide professional organizations which leverage geospatial technologies.  Overall, the 2013 event should be considered a success given ongoing struggles in attendance at similar geospatial conferences in the Northeast.  One of the few speed bumps the conference hit was placing the ESRI Sponsor Workshop – against other ongoing presentations – in the very last time slot of the conference which resulted in woefully poor attendance.  As a conference Platinum Sponsor, ESRI was deserving of much better placement on the agenda.

Kudos to the NYS GIS Association conference committee in organizing the successful 2013 NYGeoCon.  We look forward to the 2014 Geospatial Summit.

Imagery is Everywhere

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The recent release of the joint Time, Inc., Google, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), and Carnegie Mellon University’s Create Lab Timelapse website in May of this year highlights once again the increased availability of a wide range of imagery – in variety of formats – to geospatial users across the Empire State.  With aerial imagery becoming another market-driven commodity to support the expanding geospatial industry, consumers now have several options including either a la carte commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) products or more simply consuming imagery online – for free – as part of a growing number of publically accessible Cloud applications and map services.

 Commercial Imagery Products

While imagery requirements to support large scale (1”=100’) planimetric feature mapping is often much more detailed and usually acquired through  formal procurement, COTS imagery can routinely be obtained in the 1m – 2m resolution range, which is normally sufficient to support many general viewing and “what-is-where” geospatial applications across New York State.   COTS imagery has never been easier and more cost-effective to acquire.

GIS mapping and viewing applications that use aerial imagery primarily as a means to provide context to larger-scale, more spatially accurate vector datasets such as tax parcel boundaries, building footprints, and street features can use COTS products.   In the emergency response disciplines, rapidly deployed and developed COTS-quality imagery (+/-  1m – 2m resolution) has also become a standard in damage assessment for incidents such hurricanes, flooding, wildland fires, and other natural disasters.

Firms such as such as MapMart, WeoGeo, and TerraServer serve as brokers for several types of commercial aerial and satellite imagery –  including Digital Globe GeoEye, and QuickBird products – which are sufficient to support “what is where” viewing applications in most government mapping programs.  These commercial data warehouses also make available selected government image datasets such as the leaf-on National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP) photography.    Commercial sites provide easy-to-use online forms to select areas of interest, imagery type/format, and cost estimates on the requested imagery.  Commercial aerial imagery can also be bought directly from the aerial or satellite imagery firm (i.e., Digital Globe) but marketplaces such as MapMart and WeoGeo provide a broader range of options for the consumer. (Note:  Georeferenced NAIP aerial imagery can be downloaded directly from Natural Resources and Conservation Service (NRCS) website.  As part of preparing this blog post, I received a cost estimate from MapMart for two scenes of Digital Globe Precision Aerials (0.3 m resolution) imagery covering the entire Westchester County footprint – which proved to be very cost competitive and affordable.

Of course the ease and speed of purchasing COTS aerial imagery with or without detailed specifications does not come without potential issues or concerns.   One, some commercial firms may only have imagery that is several years old for a selected “area of interest” or sometimes even more problematic is that a specific area may contain a combination of years of photography. Also, file formats, datums, or the ability to test (QA/QC) the imagery may not be possible and it is worth mentioning that commercial off-the-shelf aerial imagery products are typically not be used in the production or updating of large-scale planimetric vector datasets.  Users measuring distances with COTS may take heed as depending on the scale and resolution of the imagery as calculated distant may contain an unacceptable amount of error depending on user requirements.   Use and redistribution licensing restrictions should also be thoroughly reviewed.

Imagery as part of Cloud and Map Services

If users do not require a physical (local) copy of the imagery, there are also options to access web sites  publishing aerial imagery as a service  – for free –  which can be “mashed-up” with local datasets in a variety of desktop and web viewing clients.  One of the more notable aerial imagery map services in the Empire State is available through the New York State Digital Orthophoto Program (NYSDOP).  In production since 2001, the program makes imagery available for both download and through OGC-compliant Web Map Services (WMS).    Funded through a combination of federal,  state, and local  sources, many of most commonly developed NYSDOP image products across the state (particularly outside of urban areas) are 1ft and 2ft resolution imagery which are generally comparable to COTS available products.

A much larger and expanded source of online aerial imagery is The National Map Viewer (TNM) portal which provides several map services “containing orthorectified digital aerial photographs and satellite imagery” which are more than sufficient resolution to support “what is where” viewing applications.  In additional to making high resolution imagery available, the TNM also provides viewing software that enables users to add local content – either as layers or map services.  A somewhat similar “mash-up” system is the popular Google Earth viewer which provides imagery as base map and of course, the ability for users to add additional KML layers and WMS services.  Other closely related products such as Microsoft Bing Maps offer developer tools to embed and make available imagery (Pictometry obliques) in business and government applications.

The new approach of providing both Data-as-a-Service (DaaS) and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) in one interface – and for free – is increasingly empowering for organizations with limited resources or GIS capacity.  Albeit at its core, ArcGIS.com is a fee-based product that offers similar functionality and does include free options if contributors make project maps accessible to the public.  An exhaustive gallery of public facing maps – many of which include high resolution aerial photography as the base map AND can be modified and enhanced by anonymous users with local datasets – is available for viewing at the ArcGIS.com portal.  Many of the maps can be used as a front-end to add local content for site specific projects here in New York State.

All said, the landscape has changed dramatically in recent months with regard to purchasing COTS aerial and satellite imagery which can used to support desktop and web-based geospatial applications.  And the user community should expect options to only expand over the next several years as:  1) aerial imagery change detection technology continues to evolve (enabling consumers to purchase aerial imagery where it is really needed and/or physical changes have actually occurred)  and 2)  the next generation of smaller earth observation satellites promising a surge of commercial space-based imagery platforms combined with better web-based visualization and mapping systems that are ready to ingest and analyze near real-time imagery.  To say the least of anticipated options associated with the budding drone and unmanned aerial planes/vehicles which will be used to support imagery and data collection.

If organizations have limited budgets, do not require a complete update of the imagery database or do not have other “hard” requirements (i.e., photography to support large-scale feature/planimetric  mapping) COTS imagery can be priced very competitively and can be considered as a viable alternative in support of enterprise aerial imagery programs.

GIS on Campus

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Home to one of the three original university programs associated with creation of the National Center for Geographic Information and Analysis (NCGIA) in 1988  – University of Buffalo, University of California, Santa Barbara and the University of  Maine –  New York State universities and colleges have long contributed to building the statewide GIS knowledge base and training students for professional careers in both government and industry.

While the statewide geospatial academic landscape has changed dramatically since creation of NCGIA, GIS concepts continue to be offered and integrated into many research and academic programs across the state including both the State University of New York (SUNY) and City University of New York (CUNY) systems.  And beyond the traditional geography programs, GIS concepts can also be found as part of many state and private universities in a growing number of environmental science, civil engineering, health, and computer science program curriculums.

A cursory review of GIS academic and research efforts across the Empire State includes:

Academic Programs:  Four-year programs in geography are available at eight SUNY schools with a bachelor degree in GIS being offered only at SUNY Cortland.  An Associate Degree is available at Cayuga Community College and Erie Community College offering a GIS Specialist Certificate Program.  Graduate programs in the SUNY system are available at SUNY Buffalo, Albany, and Binghamton with Buffalo offering a PhD program.  Masters programs are also available in the CUNY system at both Hunter College and Lehman College.

Educational offerings at other statewide schools include masters and doctoral degrees at Syracuse University School of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF) and a growing number of geospatial/geoscience offerings at several private liberal arts schools including, but not limited to Hamilton College, St. Lawrence College (Certificate Program),  Hobart and William Smith College, and Sienna College. Pace University (Pleasantville, NY) professor Dr. Peggy Minus has received recognition as one of the first GIS academics to offer a massive open online course (MOOC).

Research and Outreach:  Geospatial research work at SUNY institutions include Dr. Tao Tang at Buffalo State working with 3D visualization and  public health issues, Dr. Chris Renschler, SUNY Buffalo leading the Landscape-based Environmental System & Analysis Modeling (LESAM) lab,  Dr. James Mower at SUNY Albany, Dr. Jim Kernan at SUNY Geneseo,  Dr. Wendy Miller at SUNY Cortland using GIS in a Central New York economic analysis, Dr. Ann Deakin at SUNY Fredonia working with GIS students in supporting a local not-for-profit focused fighting poverty and infrastructure management at Chautauqua Institution, and  Dr. Ryan Taylor at Purchase College focusing on GIS applications in Water Resources Assessment and Wetlands Assessment in southeastern New York State.   Any summary on the contributions of SUNY system geographic programs towards development of the statewide GIS effort would be remiss without making reference to the long time contributions of Eileen Allen, GIS Support Specialist in the Center for Earth and Environmental Science at SUNY Plattsburgh.

Notable geospatial research programs associated with Hunter and Lehman Colleges include The Institute for Sustainable Cities and the Center for Advanced Research of Spatial Information (CARSI). Current efforts at Hunter College focus on transportation research, spatial statistics, geospatial semantics, and volunteered geographic information (VGI) while selected Lehman College research includes Climate Change and Public Health in Coastal Urban Areas, urban agriculture, and Risk Terrain Modeling of the Bronx – and effort to measure quality of life conditions and potential mental and physical health stressors in the local environment.

Close by at the Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN),  researchers are working on a grant from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) to develop a Hudson River Flood Hazard Decision Support System.  The project will ultimately create an easy to use, free, online mapping tool to let users assess the impacts of flood inundation posed by sea level rise, storm surge, and rain events on communities bordering the lower Hudson River.

Research and academic work from long standing research institutions such as Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) and Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) continue to blur the boundaries between geospatial reality and fantasy with advancements in computer graphics and visualization.  Note Brian Tomaszewski’s work with ArcGIS as a gaming environment for measuring disaster response spatial thinking. Here’s the link to the Summer 2013 ArcUser article on his research.    Geospatial concepts can easily be found elsewhere at these institutions in engineering and computer science programs.

Academic Degrees and Research in the Future 

There is no question the industry is witnessing major changes in how organizations build and maintain GIS capacity:  More and easier access to online content, free and easy to use viewers, cloud solutions (hardware, software, data), shorter development schedules in bringing applications into production, and basic GIS functions being integrated and offered as part of most off-the-shelf software programs.  While there will always be a selected need for cartographers, map makers,  and desktop users, is the larger geospatial job market becoming more software developer oriented?  Of the recent debate on the regional GIS listservs and blogs discussing which software skill sets, academic degrees, or professional certifications (i.e., GISP, ESRI, etc.), which are thought to be important in the GIS career path, refer to a 2012 post on the issue by Justin Holman entitled “Spatial is Indeed Special….. but GIS Software Skills will Soon be Obsolete”.  And whether or not it is more a factor of a weaken U.S. economy, government downsizing, or in fact,  changing skill sets that are defining the new GIS job market (or an individual career path)  – GIS student graduation / employment metrics are numbers the NYS GIS  and academic community need to pay close attention to.  While I was fortunate enough to recently post – though yet to fill – an entry-level GIS position here at Westchester County GIS,  it’s been one of the few full-time GIS positions listed in New York State during 2013 as advertised on the NYS GIS Association job posting page.

And what about academic GIS research?  There is plenty of it around on our college campuses,  much of which is being funded from government grants or self-funded through individual programs.  Greater buy-in and financial support from industry and business – particularly  businesses with the big statewide “geospatial” presence – such as ESRI, AutoDesk, Google, Pictometry, IMPACT, Transfinder, IBM, ConEd, Verizon, Pitney-Bowes, and several New York health care conglomerates – can be helpful to focus on applied research efforts developing products and applications for municipalities, schools, community organizations, not-for-profits, small businesses, public utilities, and tribal governments to support day-to-day business functions – in New York State.   In keeping with similar NYS government consolidation efforts, research to validate GIS shared services models would be of significant statewide benefit.  And perhaps the most important and timely research effort may be to investigate and determine what factors really are reshaping the industry in context of job creation and employment opportunities for New York State college graduates.  One way or another, such findings can be used to identify what, if any, changes need to be made in academic curriculums and degree programs statewide.

Editor Note:  Many thanks to Dr. Ann Deakin @ SUNY Fredonia for contributions on SUNY system summaries and related article content

Opening the GIS Data Vault

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The geospatial “open government” effort received a significant boost recently when the State of California Supreme Court ruled Orange County must grant access to its electronic mapping data without charging a licensing fee. The case was brought by the Sierra Club seeking access to mapping data in its fight to protect public land.  The case started in 2007, when the Sierra Club requested from Orange County a copy of its GIS parcel database, containing the location and layout of each legal parcel of land in the county. At that time, Orange County licensed copies of the parcel database to private companies and public agencies for $375,000. The county also required licensees to sign non-disclosure agreements preventing further distribution.  The California ruling augments one closer to home when in 2005 the Connecticut Supreme Court ruled in a similar case involving – and against – the Town of Greenwich.  There are several other relevant GIS legal challenges in the states of Florida, Wisconsin, South Carolina, and here in New York (Suffolk County copyright on tax maps) which are summarized in an excellent   2012 State of Indiana GIS Conference presentation entitled “Legalities of GIS” (Sparks and Estes).

Also in July 2013, whether mere coincidence or bowing to years of pressure and in response to the California ruling, New York City’s Department of City Planning quit charging fees for one of the most-demanded city datasets: PLUTO.  PLUTO (Primary Land Use Tax Lot Output) contains detailed information about every piece of land in the city (http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/html/bytes/dwn_pluto_mappluto.shtml) including tax assessments, historic districts, year built, number of units, lot size, etc. Before doing so, users had to pay $1,500 ($300 per borough) for the first time and then again for every update.  Not only did urban research institutes, community groups, nonprofits and planning firms have to pay the city each year for access to the data, but also had to stay compliant with a 14-page license agreement that, among other things, forbid them from sharing the data or putting any part of it on the internet.

So what?  What does the California ruling and release of the NYC PLUTO data really mean to the broader New York State GIS community?  In the short term, probably little. However,  it does seem the time is nearing when various New York statewide GIS organizations can come together to discuss, and perhaps, set in motion an effort to challenge the practice of charging fees and/or licensing tax-payer funded GIS data.  And at the center of this discussion would inevitably be New York’s Freedom of Information Law (FOIL).  Granted the long procedure of litigation, appeals, etc., is costly requiring deep pockets for even those who have the financial resources and legal support to endure the lengthy process but there are potentially dozens of organizations – environmental, not-for-profits, business interests, even governments – which have been confronted with the GIS data fee/licensing issue and have an interest in the issue.

Also, any serious statewide discussion on removing barriers towards selling and licensing geospatial data will first have to include a major review, revision, or complete elimination of the 16-year old NYS GIS Data Sharing Cooperative, which by extension, administers Cooperative Data Sharing Agreements for governments and not-for-profits.  The agreement itself may conflict with the basic tenets of “open government” in that the agreement currently excludes industry and business as Cooperative members as well as including provisions which allow Cooperative members to sell or license their own data.
And as if the growing body of legal decisions mandating governments to make GIS data available for free (beyond the reasonable cost of reproduction) is not enough, there is also a plethora of examples documenting the financial benefits for making geospatial data available at no cost. Note the NYC BigApps 3.0 competition which challenges software developers to create apps that use city data to “make NYC better”.  The 3.0 competition included $50,000 prize money.  Similar efforts are underway in other metropolitan areas of the country including Portland, Oregon.   There is also the new Open New York data portal albeit how well the Socrata-based system integrates with the existing statewide GIS data infrastructure is to be seen.    A very timely and outstanding read on the benefits of making public GIS data open and free was recently published (April 2013) by MetroGIS (Minneapolis/St. Paul). The report contains a myriad of rational and financial justification on making GIS data available for free – including a multi-county breakdown illustrating on how little money is actually made by individual counties after factoring in the COSTS of administering their GIS sales/licensing programs.    Further reading can found in a similar 2011 National States Geographic Information Council (NSGIC) publication entitled “Geospatial Data Sharing:  Guidelines for Best Practices”.

In the long run, the charging of fees and licensing for tax payer funded geospatial data will ultimately be recognized as neither sustainable or cost effective.  Personnel and organizations will change as government programs are reduced, and to survive, must become more public and business friendly.  Organizations will simply not have the personnel and/or rational to administer data sharing and licensing agreements developed 10-20 years ago. Finally, although there will always be a few exceptions, the belief that the selling or licensing of data somehow supports operational elements of public GIS programs, or is a large money maker, will finally be proven otherwise.

However, to wait for the issue – or problem – to simply take care of itself and ultimately fade away is not the most prudent course of action.  As we can reasonably expect the continued high demand for government GIS datasets to continue, combined with the growing body of judicial cases and “open government” initiatives supporting unrestricted access, the time has come for the discussion, and action, to be taken seriously here in New York State.

Not-for-Profits Gone Spatial

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Leveraging web-based technology to reach wider audiences, combined with fewer tax-payer funded GIS initiatives, and improved “open government” data portals has led to a growing body of geospatial work by the Not-for-Profit (NFP) sector within New York State.  Ranging from basic community based mapping programs to scholarly research efforts, these statewide contributions come from national based organizations, land trusts, conservation districts, and a range of local environmental groups.

Several active programs, which are typical of statewide NFP GIS efforts, are located in the lower Hudson River Valley.  The Westchester Land Trust is similar to other statewide land trusts using GIS technology to support business and advocacy programs.  Working closely with the Westchester County GIS program WLT utilizes GIS to inventory and map individual properties, supports local environmental groups GIS/mapping efforts, and to promote events such GIS Day.

The Saw Mill River Coalition also uses GIS datasets in conducting land use studies and mapping projects.  Many local governments have open space committees which use GIS to inventory open spaces (local, county, state parks, cemeteries, schools, gardens, etc.) and are now using GIS tools to identify linkages and corridors such as right-of-ways and easements to connect open spaces.   Digital tax maps, public infrastructure, and utility system networks are useful sources of information in identifying such corridors.

Nearby is Hudsonia, a not-for-profit environmental institute which focuses on environmental research, education, training and technical assistance throughout the Hudson River Valley.  GIS-based habitat mapping is one of its signature geospatial programs and is used by local municipalities.   The New York/New Jersey Trail Conference provides workshops and uses GPS and GIS, a portion of which is based on user collected X,Y (trail) data for hardcopy map production on hiking trails throughout southeastern New York/Northern New Jersey.

More detailed GIS analysis by a NFP includes ongoing work at Mohonk Preserve outside of New Paltz, New York where managers and scientists are using GIS to map the relationship between rare species and their habitat as well as describing the importance and changes in ecological communities.   Much of the geospatial work at Mohonk was detailed in the Winter 2011/2012 issue of ArcNews.  GIS support services are also provided and offered through the Cornell Cooperative Extension Dutchess County (CCEDC).

One of the largest NFP GIS mapping programs in the state is the OASIS  (Open Accessible Space Information System) program covering the metropolitan New York City area and located at the CUNY Mapping Service at the Center for Urban Research.  Its mission is to “help nonprofits, community groups, educators, students, public agencies, and local businesses develop a better understanding of their environment with interactive maps of open spaces, property information, transportation networks, and more.”   The OASIS project has gone beyond its original New York City geographic footprint and is now involved in similar mapping efforts beyond the metropolitan region.  Their homepage has an extensive listing of other NFP programs, which contribute, to the OASIS initiative in context of providing data and/or funding.

On a statewide level, illustrative NFP GIS programs include:

Scenic Hudson:  Developed in concert with both government and academia, Scenic Hudson developed the online Sea Level Rise Mapper (SLR) application which is intended to “create visualizations of future scenarios of sea level rise.”   With the maps created as part of the application, Scenic Hudson is supporting communities’ efforts to develop adaptation plan.  Data and mapping products integrated into the application are a combination of results from new analyses by Scenic Hudson and existing data from a variety of sources including NYS DEC, US EPA, US Census Bureau, Dr. Roger Flood (SUNY Stony Brook) and FEMA.

FracTracker: This non-profit organization is dedicated to enhancing the public’s understanding of the impacts of the oil and gas industry by collecting, interpreting, and sharing data. With the Marcellus and Utica Shales at the focus of this environmental issue, FracTracker employs in-house GIS technology capacity to distribute maps (PDF format) and data, as well as using ArcGIS.com for interactive mapping. “Maps are central to our grassroots outreach effort, helping us communicate the relevant environmental issues associated with important statewide issue” says Karen Edelstein, New York State FracTracker liaison.

The Nature Conservancy:   In conjunction with the New York Natural Heritage Program and funded though the Hudson River Estuary Program,   TNC conducted a project that combined a GIS prioritization framework with field assessment methods to identify and prioritize culverts and dams that are of biological importance in the Hudson River Estuary (HRE).  The goal of this project was to identify a suite of barriers whose removal would provide a meaningful biological benefit in the HRE.   In all, over 13,000 potential barriers were identified in the study.

The NFPs referenced in this post represent only a small portion of similar statewide organizations that contribute significantly to a wide range of applications, data, personnel, funding, and underlying geospatial infrastructure across the state.  As a side note, the recent release of the New York Protected Areas Database (NYPAD) illustrates yet another scenario as to how government agencies can partner with and use the NFP structure, and in this case academia, to further strategic GIS programs.  Similar initiatives are funded through the New York Natural Heritage Programs (NYNHP).  Given today’s government financial climate, such an initiative would be very difficult to complete and maintain solely with public agency resources.

While historically the primary role of NFPs in the geospatial arena has been as a consumer of taxpayer funded GIS data, their role is quietly changing to that of a producer.   Long term, improvements in quantifying their economic and scientific contribution to the statewide geospatial effort warrants continued recognition and discussion.

Schools & GIS

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Over the past several years much discussion linking GIS technology to the educational community  (i.e., K-12, middle and high school, Community Colleges, and universities) has focused mainly on integrating GIS concepts into the classroom environment.  While industry leaders such as ESRI and Google have contributed significantly and helped advance this effort, there exist several other pertinent program areas in school systems which on many levels overlap and can benefit by integrating with traditional, or “nearby” government GIS programs.  Ironically, the rational for the government/school GIS collaboration – if not justification – is that school based geospatial-based programs are often competing for the same tax dollar, in the same municipality or county, traditional GIS programs are feverishly trying to secure.  Illustrative common areas include:

Transportation Systems:  For the unknowing, local school district transportation budgets can often be eye-popping totaling into the hundred thousands, if not millions of dollars.  Illustratively, a  quick survey of online school district budgets in Westchester County, New York found several transportation budgets in excess of $3 million, others in the neighborhood of $6 million, and one as high as $9 million.    (Comparatively, similar budgets will vary greatly across the state depending geographic size and location of  district).  While much of the transportation budget money is for buses, maintenance, personnel, fuel, and other assets, many New York State school districts are actively utilizing GIS-based software for routing, scheduling, and leveraging GPS technology to track and locate buses for both fixed route and Paratransit systems.   Geocoding, address verification, and even the need for the production of hardcopy maps are also common in most school transportation offices.  One of the more popular bus transportation software packages in the state is Transfinder which has a broad statewide school district client base and access to updated address databases through the NYS Data Sharing Cooperative (via their client, school districts, as members of the Cooperative).  Another Albany based company engaged in student/bus transportation systems is Versatrans (Tyler Technologies).   Interestingly, as of July 2013, approximately half (nearly 45%) of the 535 listed members in state data sharing cooperative local government category are school districts.

Demographic Analysis/Statistics:  Census data, population statistics, live birth figures, and similar datasets have long been a staple of government GIS programs to map and distribute. It is these same datasets school districts often use in concert with a plethora of planning and engineering consultants, to support a wide range of administrative, facility planning,  capital improvement, and long range strategic plans.  GIS software provides a powerful analytical tool in visualizing demographic-based datasets with other relevant district wide features such as public transportation systems, traffic patterns, critical infrastructure, parks/athletic complexes, location of educational service providers, and district ADA compliant buildings.  Local tax parcel boundary data, building footprints, and related assessment data,  which are in the stewardship of local government GIS programs, add a further level of analysis and visualization.   All combined – with the input and support of local GIS programs, GIS “mash-ups” can be created and made available to school district staff, school boards, and other community groups involved in school district programs.  Similarly, Westchester County GIS online mapping applications are used by the City of Mt. Vernon school district for address and residency verification.  Also, GIS software is increasingly being used to redistrict school district boundaries and individual school catchment areas.

Facilities Management/Safe Schools:  While many readily available software products such as Google Maps, Bing Maps, ArcGIS.com, and even Yahoo! Maps offer aerial views of school facilities and campuses, this imagery is routinely “leaf-on” and therefore can have important ground features covered or obscured.  Local government GIS programs are uniquely positioned to collaborate with schools in offering more detailed and higher resolution “leaf-off” imagery used in local base mapping projects.  Similar opportunities exist for local governments to collaborate with universities and colleges which are using GIS as a framework to support comprehensive facilities management plans.  Three  illustrative efforts in this regard are the  University of Rochester,  SUNY Albany and SUNY Cortland – each providing a basis for neighboring communities or organizations to cost-share in geospatial products such as orthophotography, LiDAR, or planimetric mapping, all of which are used in compiling campus facility base maps.  GIS data and mapping is also used in the development of school security plans.  Recent incidents at public schools and on college campuses have led to both federal and New York State initiatives which increase the opportunity for the GIS community to work with school administrators and local law enforcement agencies in developing security plans and related mapping products.

Many opportunities currently exist for GIS professionals to reach out to the educational community and identify joint geospatial programs and applications.  Building such strategic alliances with schools is budget wise and can result in the valuable cost sharing of applications, coordinating procurement of similar products such as aerial photography and planimetric features (building footprints, visible infrastructure features, topography, hydrology), or the effective design of common hardware and software infrastructure.  Looking forward, such proactive efforts on the part of the New York State GIS community will help nurture and build an important statewide partner and user constituency.

Multi-Government GIS

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Over the past 25 years the success of the Westchester County GIS program can be attributed to several key factors that include ongoing administrative and political support, a common technology vision over many years of management leaders, as well as continuous years of superior GIS staff and technical support.  However, one of the most important and enduring elements has been the collaborative work between multiple governments – specifically between Westchester County and its 43 municipalities.

Early on and even before web technology and services had matured to what is available today, local governments, not-for-profits, and community groups realized cost efficiencies in utilizing Westchester County GIS products and services in helping build geospatial capacity within their organizations. While expansion of the County’s GIS infrastructure was slow and at times limited due to early desktop GIS client software, expansion and deployment has changed dramatically in the last 18-36 months with the increased availability of easy-to-use web viewers, access to data-rich map services, and local GIS datasets.

Westchester County is not the only current multi-agency or regional government GIS effort in the state.  One of the best and more visible examples of cost effective geospatial shared services is the Erie County GIS program which continues to provide a framework for providing and developing GIS capabilities for both Erie and Niagara Counties as well as selected neighboring towns.

Other illustrative and successful multi-agency/regional GIS programs include the Southern Tier Western Regional Planning & Development Board “Community GIS” serving Chautauqua, Cattaraugus & Allegheny Counties and the Seneca Nation of Indians. In northern New York State, encouraging efforts are being made by the Development Authority of the North Country towards building and expanding geospatial capacity for the villages of Heuvelton and Clayton, the Town of Clayton and Jefferson County.  Other illustrative statewide multi-government GIS programs include both the Dutchess County GIS program and the Tompkins County – City of Ithaca Interactive Maps collaboration.  These and other selected initiatives across the state have built multi-government GIS business plans with support from the New York State Local Government Efficiency Program (LGe) which provides funding for the development of projects that will achieve savings and improve municipal efficiency through shared services and cooperative agreements.

As government downsizing continues, opportunities to expand and build GIS capacity in local governments across New York State will often be most feasible and practical in a multi-government or regional framework where financial, technical and administrative support can be consolidated. Such initiatives will support similar business needs as well as common organizational and business requirements.

“Cloud” concepts now resonate and are understood, if not embraced, among elected officials and managers across governments.   The GIS infrastructure is now in place so that multiple governments can have data housed in one location, accessing web services from other government agencies, combining local content – all at the same time while using one of several free viewing clients such as ArcGIS Explorer, Gaia 3.0, and Google Earth 7).  Such “mash-up” configurations dramatically decrease the time building GIS data access and viewing capabilities.  While such viewers come with limited spatial analysis capabilities, there is nonetheless a significant reduction in hardware and software investments – which is often a major GIS implementation obstacle for small to mid-range sized governments and organizations across the state.

Geospatial technology has evolved such that there is a very limited or viable business case for every governmental organization to fund and support it’s own GIS program.  Shared Services is no longer a “nice to have” but rather the new government reality.  The New York State geospatial community will do well to embrace and promote this new paradigm towards building multi-government and cost-effective GIS programs.

Getting Started

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eSpatially New York  focuses on geospatial technology development, current issues, and the broad range of geospatial users across the State of New York.  Illustrative issues to be highlighted include government programs, emerging technologies, business and industry leaders, and the use of geospatial applications in smaller markets such as schools and community based programs.